September 24, 2013

Graphic 45, Petaloo & Xyron Blog Hop: Day 2

Hello G45ers,

Get ready to fall in love with Autumn-themed crafts as we continue our fun blog hop with Petaloo and Xyron! We're starting off the festive season with lots of grand inspiration for home decor and gift ideas! Today we will share more gorgeous crafts that combine Graphic 45 with Petaloo and Xyron products! It's a match made in craft heaven! We've got breathtaking creations from Rhea Freitag, Denise Johnson and Annette Green of our design team! There's also a fabulous tutorial that Annette created that you're sure to love! So lets get this party started!

Just a reminder about this week's amazing blog contest in celebration of the blog hop! You could win a Steampunk Spells 12x12 paper pad, cardstock Banners, Flowers, Tags & Pockets, Chipboard Die-Cuts, Stickers, Happy Haunting 8x8 paper pad, Ornate Metal Key Holes, a beautiful array of Petaloo flowers and embellishments, and fabulous Xyron
adhesive tools! This prize pack is out of this world! Just leave us a
blog comment this week for your chance to win! We're also offering
prizes on the Graphic 45 Facebook page this week! We will announce this week's winner on Monday, September 30th. Stay tuned to see if you've won!

Petaloo and Xyron
are also offering wonderful inspiration and prize giveaways on their
blogs this week! Be sure to hop on over to their blogs for fabulous
ideas and fun. Be sure to leave them a blog comment while you're there
for your chance to win their incredible prizes!

We begin today's inspiration with this unique and beautiful Steampunk Spells box by Rhea. This vintage-inspired treasure is just perfect for bringing charm and sophistication to your fall home decor! You can see how fabulously the Steampunk Spells papers blend with Graphic 45 Metal Staples, Petaloo flowers and Xyron tools. Here Rhea explains how she came up with this gorgeous idea and some of the fun techniques she used to create it. It's just marvelous!

"When it comes to fall décor, I like to layer my pieces. I create assemblage in every way, even
in my decorating style. Therefore,
for this challenge, I chose to make a small piece that I could add to any fall
display. In order to cast a warm glow on this small industrial box, I
used a lot of copper gilders paste, both on the metal pieces as well as on the
paper and edges of the box.
Another way that I added texture was by embossing the Graphic 45 Butterfly
with gears. I really like to move quick with my crafting, and since I
love assemblage work this is often a challenge. While using the Xyron Mega Runner, I absolutely fell in
love. I was able to get adhesive
right where I wanted it, close to the edge, all while having zero wait time for
glue to dry." -Rhea

Here we have a gorgeous Autumn daily keepsake by Denise. She combined lots of different Graphic 45 collections including Typography, Place in Time, French Country, 12 Days of Christmas and Bird Song to create a one-of-a-kind treasure. This is the perfect way to cherish the colorful days of fall! Here Denise explains how she created this joyful and festive craft to celebrate the season!

"I enjoyed creating this project so much! The Graphic 45 papers are a perfect match for my Autumn decor, Petaloo flowers complete and enhance the feeling of Fall with rich color and texture and the vast variety of Xyron adhesives hold all the different elements in place with ease! You can create this Fall Daily Keepsake to help commemorate and track all your festive, Fall season events and daily happenings AND, (bonus!), this piece serves as a beautiful, decorative home accent piece as well! The accordion feature allows for an eye-catching display along the mantel, across the center of a table for a one-of-a-kind tablescape or simply fold & set in a basket in the entryway. My plan is to use my keepsake to adorn my mantle, where I will be certain to see it everyday and will remember to add my daily thought, photo, poem, quote, memorabilia, etc. Each page of the accordion book has a pocket feature containing pre-made daily cards, journal inserts or clips.At the end of the season I will have a spectacular keepsake, with layers of memories of my family’s Fall adventures. I put together a quick video, showing each page, in order. I also have
full shots of both sides of the accordion fully expanded. I hope you
enjoy! Happy Fall!" -Denise

Here is another breathtaking craft that's just perfect for fall! It's time to get cozy with this gorgeous centerpiece by Annette! This is the perfect display for Thanksgiving, Halloween or any special occasion this season. You're going to love the fabulous and fun tutorial that Annette has created for this gorgeous project! Enjoy getting in the Autumn spirit with Graphic 45, Petaloo and Xyron! Take it away, Annette!

“Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year not only for the cooler temperatures, but for the warm wonderful colors. The Steampunk Spells collection served perfectly for a Fall themed home decor project. The 6 x 6 Patterns & Solids were ideal for this 3-dimensional candle centerpiece because when die-cutting a leaf that you will see from both sides, for example, you won’t have completely different patterns showing one each side. Instead, the paper has a distinct pattern on one side and a solid coordinating color on the other.” -Annette

2. Paint two coats of red acrylic paint. You don’t have to worry about the plate’s center because you will cover it with paper.

3. The inner flat portion of the plate stand measures 8 ½ inches. Cut a 8 ½ inch circle from Steampunk Spells Fanciful Floral 12 x 12 paper (using the back side). I traced a paper plate that was the perfect size. Using Xyron’s High Tack adhesive dots, attach Petaloo flowers around the perimeter. I found that two dots per flower provided the most secure hold.

9. Assemble the centerpiece with more leaves, fall picks, chipboard tags from Place in Time collection, and ribbon. Do not adhere the jars to the base so you can remove and replace melted candles easily when necessary.

(Important Tip: be mindful of the positioning of paper leaves and flowers that may overhang your candle’s flame so as to avoid a fire hazard.)

Wasn't that fun, G45ers?! We have more inspiration from Graphic 45, Petaloo and Xyron all week long! Be sure to stop by tomorrow to see more gorgeous ideas from our design team! Don't forget to hop on over to the blogs for Petaloo and Xyron to see their incredible crafts today! Leave a comment while you're there for your chance to win their fabulous prize giveaway this week. Big thanks to Rhea, Denise and Annette for their superb work today. We sure enjoyed getting to share today's crafts with all of you. We wish you all a fabulous day. Thank you again for stopping by!

Wow! All 3 projects are absolutely breathtaking. We don't really celebrate fall in the UK, but I am inspired to give it a go this year. After all, it's a great excuse to play with all my wonderful G45 papers.

It's so nice to come to the G45 blog every day and see amazing projects. I especially like the close-up pictures and the way we're shown different angles of the projects. Video tutorials, step-by-step tutorials...I love them all! Even experienced crafters like myself need a little extra help now and then. G45, you make it so easy to use your products and create things at home similar to what I see here.
Thanks!!